Optimism is a great word and was well-chosen for the name of this cryptocurrency. The entire purpose of the OP crypto is to convince users to have a positive experience using it and to create a blockchain and ecosystem that is beneficial for them, right down to promoting public goods and services.
While this is all very noble, does it translate well when it comes to cryptocurrency casinos? As an ERC-20 token, it has a small but dedicated community of followers at up-and-coming casinos, and we’re here to introduce you to those, as well as touch upon the inner workings of this cryptocurrency here today. Let’s begin by introducing you to some of those sites, which include:
Optimism (OP)
Optimism has a great base to build on. It was founded by Vitalik Buterin, one of the primary developers of Ethereum. Working together with Karl Floersch, he put together an ERC-20 token that is widely compatible and forms the basis of a project that promotes public goods and voting rights for holders and is the building block of the Optimism Collective, a group of companies, users, and digital communities.
Like many new blockchains, the OP crypto token is a means to an end, not the goal. The goal is to create and grow that community and network mentioned above. The token itself is merely used to govern the protocol behind the Optimism Collective. It has become an increasingly popular crypto altcoin over the last year, predominantly because it is compatible with the Ethereum Network, is cheap to process transactions, and can be used at selected casino sites.
You’re not likely to come across online casinos that are dedicated to this payment method. Instead, OP is offered alongside many other ERC-20 tokens at casino sites. This is both a blessing and something of a curse. Any online casino that allows you to process payments using the Ethereum Network could theoretically accept OP, ensuring that you’ve got casinos to choose from. However, because there are no dedicated sites and no shortage of rival ERC-20 tokens in this market, you could just easily play with another option. There’s no real utility to OP, which makes you want to choose this one over another.
Of those casinos that do accept Optimism, they will typically allow you to deposit (top-up) and withdraw using the cryptocurrency but not necessarily wager on games. When researching this option, we found that most sites will convert your OP deposit into another option, either mainstream cryptos such as BTC or FIAT options such as US dollars, for gameplay purposes. You’ll still find a huge selection of titles, from slots to table games and more, but OP-centric stakes aren’t something you’ll find common to crypto casinos.
There are a handful of reasons why Optimism may be the cryptocurrency for you at online casinos. These reasons include:
OP is considerably cheap to get hold of, and its transaction costs are low. Furthermore, it is widely listed at crypto exchanges, and many mainstream casinos that facilitate transactions using the Ethereum Network can be used to process payments using OP.
There have been virtually no security issues associated with Optimism. On top of that, it has a POS (Proof of Stake) mechanism and is widely accepted by many wallets, ensuring that it is easy to store and secure OP once you’ve obtained it.
As with any crypto, there are a few disadvantages, too, and the main ones you need to know about include the following:
All cryptocurrencies are volatile, save for those tethered to FIAT options. OP is no different. However, at the time of writing, we’ve noticed that the volatility associated with Optimism is considerably high, making it arguably riskier to use than some conventional crypto options when gambling online.
Not every casino player cares about Optimism’s “mission”. They merely want a handy ERC-20 token that they can use to gamble online. There are over a hundred ERC-20 tokens out there that are simpler to use and ideal for gambling, so this is a very crowded space for OP to operate in and one where the competition is fierce.
Choosing an Optimism-friendly online casino comes down to just a few things. Here’s what you need to know before you get started:
You can save yourself the burden of trying to ensure that an online casino accepts the Optimism cryptocurrency by playing at one of our selected OP online casinos. Let’s shed a spotlight on such crypto casinos that come highly recommended here:
Before you can start playing at Optimism casinos, you’ll need to open a wallet or two and acquire OP from an exchange. Here’s how you can go about doing that:
Optimism is an ideal, not just a cryptocurrency. If you believe in promoting public goods and agree with the ethos behind the project, then OP could be a good fit for you. However, there’s nothing about the cryptocurrency itself that makes it more worthwhile than any other dedicated ERC-20 token that you can find at our many recommended crypto casinos. Ultimately, it’s all down to your own preferences and whether you believe in OP’s mission or not.
No. However, OP transactions are processed over Ethereum’s network, so many top ERC-20 token-accepted casinos can facilitate Optimism transactions.
Maybe one day. However, we didn’t come across any when specifically putting together this review, so we’d have to say no.
Again, this isn’t something we personally came across when drafting this piece. They may be out there or in the pipeline, but we didn’t find any. Instead, deposits tend to be converted into another option when claiming bonuses.
Safety is one of Optimism’s selling points. We couldn’t identify any issues that stood out, which would make us think that it wasn’t safe to use this cryptocurrency.
There are fees, but these tend to vary depending on the network you are using. They generally mirror those on Ethereum. So, whatever the fee is on Ethereum, it will cost you the same fee in gas on OP’s Mainnet.